Panorama 4/20 sailing; great cruise marred by terrible disembarkation

[kwokpot]

I like to give a few thoughts on my just completed 4/20 sailing on the Panorama. For context this is our 29th Carnival cruise, Diamond member, 112th cruise overall with all cruiselines. First time sailing from Long Beach on the Panorama. It won't be a day by day cruise review but bullet points of thoughts and observations.

 

*This was the first time back on a Vista Class ship since 2019. Previous sailings post pandemic have been on the Mardi Gras, Celebration, Pride,and Luminosa.

As such I've forgotten how nicely laid out the Vista Class ships are and there's almost no negatives besides the Liquid Lounge and the cabin bathroom designs. The ship is in immaculate condition.

 

*Service was excellent throughout our cruise. Employees were friendly and accommodating.

 

*MDR service was very good. Food was good for the most part and I enjoyed the new entrees and starters, especially the special Emeril selections. TBH I actually prefer the aft dining room on the Vista Class vs the Excel class as I have consistently found the MDR on the Mardi Gras and Celebration dark with a convention center banquet dinner like atmosphere. On the Vista Class natural light seems to flood the entire dining room and there's a much larger atrium opening than on the Excel Class ships which further the more open and less claustrophobic environment.

 

*Buffet food was pretty good overall. Guy's was excellent as usual. The pizza was a tale of two cities. The first time we had pizza it was some of the best pizza of ANY cruiseship we've been on. It was hot, the crust was thin and wonderfully crispy, and the cheese and sauce was just perfect. I was in heaven! The next time we ordered though, it was totally the opposite. It had skimpy toppings, and the crust wasn't baked enough so it was a soggy messy. I two two bites and didn't finish the rest. It was obvious that it was a totally different person making the pizza and it was just terrible.

 

*The other thing that was disappointing was the banana cream pie. That used to be such a yummy dessert but now it's nothing like the previous versions and honestly not very good.

 

*We were disappointed with the Mongolian Wok lunch since it's now just a handful of set choices with no customization allowed. No extra side dishes are available like in the past. Although it's so much faster now TBH it's really not worth it. I guess you can shlep up some additional food/sides before going up so you can gave a complete meal all at the same time.

 

*I enjoyed using the fitness center every day and it was great having the free sauna in the spa/gym men's locker room that's available for everyone to use.

 

*We enjoyed get our Americano coffees at Java Blue every day. 

 

*Alchemy Bar is my favorite and everyone there was friendly. One of the bartenders there, Marina, remembered me from the Luminosa when we sailed the 30 day TP from Seattle to Brisbane last year. 

 

*Our cabin attendant was great and we had no issues with our room. One major thing we miss from the new Excel Class ships are sliding balcony doors vs right a regular glass door. You wouldn't believe the amount of balcony door slamming,it was constant, loud, and disruptive. Why people can't hold onto the balcony door handle and close it gently is beyond me.

 

*The casino was busy and smoky as usual. My husband and I came out nicely ahead so that's always a good thing!

 

*As the old saying goes, Dione the cruise director wasn't my cup of tea. That's all I will say about that. 

 

*The phone app always worked well and we enjoyed the additional functionalities that have been added to the app. This brings me to the new disembarkation on the mobile app.

 

*I'm sure at a different embarkation port the mobile app disembarkation will be better than the old way. One problem it solves is how Carnival did self assist disembarkation. Previously if you wanted to self disembark with your own luggage everyone didn't go down at the same town. Instead it went by Decks:Whatsmore general disembarkation started before self disembarkation finished, if you wanted to catch an early flight it made no sense to do self disembarkation. 

This new method you actually choose the time you want to get off the ship,in 20 minutes intervals. You are then assigned a Group letter and you will get a notification from the app when your group letter has called. So when it works correctly,it's far better than the old method.

 

*On the our 4/27 disembarkation there were MAJOR delays which weren't explained. Our group was supposed to disembark  between 9:50-10:10 but we didn't get the message u til 11:15. There was also major crowding and it wasn't clear as to where the queues where to disembark . It was a total mess that was exacerbated by the lack of regular updates from the cruise director, leaving everyone wondering what was going on. We didn't get out of the terminal until 11:45 and we went even the last group by far. Everyone was frustrated and angry with the disembarkation and it put a damper to an otherwise great cruise vacation.

 

*My final piece of advice is to disembark as early as you can, even if you don't need to. Trust me, you'll save yourself a lot of frustration and angst.

Edited April 28 by kwokpot

[LaRue1975]

Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it and congrats on coming out ahead in the casino! I am wondering why you didn’t debark early with the Diamonds and Platinums. They had the new system on the New Years cruise and in February but we were told we didn’t need to use it if we had priority debarkation. New Years we checked our luggage but in February we did self debark for the first time and will do it from now on, it was very organized and fast. We were supposed to meet in the Liquid Lounge at 8:30, got there a little after 8 and there were already a lot of people in there. They started debarkation at 8:30 and we were in the car and on the road by 9. Embarkation and debarkation in Long Beach can be frustrating, we’ve found the best way to handle it is get there early and relax in the lounge and get off early and get the heck out of there before chaos ensues, lol! I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise, we love the Panorama! We board the Celebration one week from today, our first Exel class, can’t wait! 

Edited April 28 by LaRue1975

[kwokpot]

18 minutes ago, LaRue1975 said:

Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it and congrats on coming out ahead in the casino! I am wondering why you didn’t debark early with the Diamonds and Platinums. They had the new system on the New Years cruise and in February but we were told we didn’t need to use it if we had priority debarkation. New Years we checked our luggage but in February we did self debark for the first time and will do it from now on, it was very organized and fast. We were supposed to meet in the Liquid Lounge at 8:30, got there a little after 8 and there were already a lot of people in there. They started debarkation at 8:30 and we were in the car and on the road by 9. Embarkation and debarkation in Long Beach can be frustrating, we’ve found the best way to handle it is get there early and relax in the lounge and get off early and get the heck out of there before chaos ensues, lol! I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise, we love the Panorama! We board the Celebration one week from today, our first Exel class, can’t wait! 

We are currently in Waikiki Beach for a three night pre-cruise stay before embarking on the Ovation of the Seas cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. I had originally booked a 12:00 flight from LAX to Honolulu post Panorama Cruise but with advice from here on CC we changed our flight to 3:00 on another airline. We figured if we were to leave with the Diamonds at 8:30 we would be too early to check our bags AND too early to enter an airport lounge. That's why we chose a 9:50 debarkation which if things had gone to plan would have put us at LAX around 11:15 or so. In hindsight we should have departed with the Diamond debarkation. In any event we had just enough time for a quick lunch at the airport lounge despite it being two terminals away from our flight. 

[Elaine5715]

Debarkation chaos is due to the cruise director so your feelings were correct.

[EllieinNJ]

We embarked the Panorama yesterday when you disembarked.  We had a 11am boarding time.  When we got to the terminal at that time no one had as yet embarked.  We waited and waited with no one telling us what was happening.  Finally about 12pm they started embarking.  We were having Guys burgers about 12 45.

[californiatripman]

11 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I like to give a few thoughts on my just completed 4/20 sailing on the Panorama. For context this is our 29th Carnival cruise, Diamond member, 112th cruise overall with all cruiselines. First time sailing from Long Beach on the Panorama. It won't be a day by day cruise review but bullet points of thoughts and observations.

 

*This was the first time back on a Vista Class ship since 2019. Previous sailings post pandemic have been on the Mardi Gras, Celebration, Pride,and Luminosa.

As such I've forgotten how nicely laid out the Vista Class ships are and there's almost no negatives besides the Liquid Lounge and the cabin bathroom designs. The ship is in immaculate condition.

 

*Service was excellent throughout our cruise. Employees were friendly and accommodating.

 

*MDR service was very good. Food was good for the most part and I enjoyed the new entrees and starters, especially the special Emeril selections. TBH I actually prefer the aft dining room on the Vista Class vs the Excel class as I have consistently found the MDR on the Mardi Gras and Celebration dark with a convention center banquet dinner like atmosphere. On the Vista Class natural light seems to flood the entire dining room and there's a much larger atrium opening than on the Excel Class ships which further the more open and less claustrophobic environment.

 

*Buffet food was pretty good overall. Guy's was excellent as usual. The pizza was a tale of two cities. The first time we had pizza it was some of the best pizza of ANY cruiseship we've been on. It was hot, the crust was thin and wonderfully crispy, and the cheese and sauce was just perfect. I was in heaven! The next time we ordered though, it was totally the opposite. It had skimpy toppings, and the crust wasn't baked enough so it was a soggy messy. I two two bites and didn't finish the rest. It was obvious that it was a totally different person making the pizza and it was just terrible.

 

*The other thing that was disappointing was the banana cream pie. That used to be such a yummy dessert but now it's nothing like the previous versions and honestly not very good.

 

*We were disappointed with the Mongolian Wok lunch since it's now just a handful of set choices with no customization allowed. No extra side dishes are available like in the past. Although it's so much faster now TBH it's really not worth it. I guess you can shlep up some additional food/sides before going up so you can gave a complete meal all at the same time.

 

*I enjoyed using the fitness center every day and it was great having the free sauna in the spa/gym men's locker room that's available for everyone to use.

 

*We enjoyed get our Americano coffees at Java Blue every day. 

 

*Alchemy Bar is my favorite and everyone there was friendly. One of the bartenders there, Marina, remembered me from the Luminosa when we sailed the 30 day TP from Seattle to Brisbane last year. 

 

*Our cabin attendant was great and we had no issues with our room. One major thing we miss from the new Excel Class ships are sliding balcony doors vs right a regular glass door. You wouldn't believe the amount of balcony door slamming,it was constant, loud, and disruptive. Why people can't hold onto the balcony door handle and close it gently is beyond me.

 

*The casino was busy and smoky as usual. My husband and I came out nicely ahead so that's always a good thing!

 

*As the old saying goes, Dione the cruise director wasn't my cup of tea. That's all I will say about that. 

 

*The phone app always worked well and we enjoyed the additional functionalities that have been added to the app. This brings me to the new disembarkation on the mobile app.

 

*I'm sure at a different embarkation port the mobile app disembarkation will be better than the old way. One problem it solves is how Carnival did self assist disembarkation. Previously if you wanted to self disembark with your own luggage everyone didn't go down at the same town. Instead it went by Decks:Whatsmore general disembarkation started before self disembarkation finished, if you wanted to catch an early flight it made no sense to do self disembarkation. 

This new method you actually choose the time you want to get off the ship,in 20 minutes intervals. You are then assigned a Group letter and you will get a notification from the app when your group letter has called. So when it works correctly,it's far better than the old method.

 

*On the our 4/27 disembarkation there were MAJOR delays which weren't explained. Our group was supposed to disembark  between 9:50-10:10 but we didn't get the message u til 11:15. There was also major crowding and it wasn't clear as to where the queues where to disembark . It was a total mess that was exacerbated by the lack of regular updates from the cruise director, leaving everyone wondering what was going on. We didn't get out of the terminal until 11:45 and we went even the last group by far. Everyone was frustrated and angry with the disembarkation and it put a damper to an otherwise great cruise vacation.

 

*My final piece of advice is to disembark as early as you can, even if you don't need to. Trust me, you'll save yourself a lot of frustration and angst.

 

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[californiatripman]

I’ll disagree with going off earlier.  We were supposed to go to Horizon restaurant for diamond disembarkation at 9:30.  They were taking everyone through there for disembarkation and it was a nightmare.  Could not get through the masses to get to our meeting area and no one understood we weren’t getting off right at that time just trying to get to our meeting area.  Much anger at us.  We ended up just waiting until the end and was much easier.  Unless you have to get off early I wouldn’t.  After 55 Carnival cruises was the most chaotic disembarkation I’ve bee through by far.  Who ever came up with this new disembarkation idea should be demoted yesterday.

[kwokpot]

8 minutes ago, californiatripman said:

I’ll disagree with going off earlier.  We were supposed to go to Horizon restaurant for diamond disembarkation at 9:30.  They were taking everyone through there for disembarkation and it was a nightmare.  Could not get through the masses to get to our meeting area and no one understood we weren’t getting off right at that time just trying to get to our meeting area.  Much anger at us.  We ended up just waiting until the end and was much easier.  Unless you have to get off early I wouldn’t.  After 55 Carnival cruises was the most chaotic disembarkation I’ve bee through by far.  Who ever came up with this new disembarkation idea should be demoted yesterday.

Sorry your experience wasn't any better. Wasn't it 8:30 for diamond meetup?

Edited April 28 by kwokpot

[notscb]

12 hours ago, kwokpot said:

On the our 4/27 disembarkation there were MAJOR delays which weren't explained.

It sounds like overall you had a positive experience on your cruise! I appreciate the bulleted points and sharing of your experiences.

 

I think the explanation is simple re: delays at Disembarkation. Part of the process is out of Carnival's hand (immigration and customs) which inevitably slows the process. Another factor that you might have experienced driving in is that LGB is an active commercial port and traffic in/out is nearly always backed up when ships are  coming/going, which also contributes to the overall crowding, even while you're still onboard.

 

I think you make a god point, though, that the cruise director should be more vocal during these times and often the silence over the loudspeaker contributes to the confusion.

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, notscb said:

It sounds like overall you had a positive experience on your cruise! I appreciate the bulleted points and sharing of your experiences.

 

I think the explanation is simple re: delays at Disembarkation. Part of the process is out of Carnival's hand (immigration and customs) which inevitably slows the process. Another factor that you might have experienced driving in is that LGB is an active commercial port and traffic in/out is nearly always backed up when ships are  coming/going, which also contributes to the overall crowding, even while you're still onboard.

 

I think you make a god point, though, that the cruise director should be more vocal during these times and often the silence over the loudspeaker contributes to the confusion.

The former Spruce goose hanger dome-turned cruise pier while unique and interesting (reminded me of the old Space mountain ride in Disney World) isn't the most user friendly facility. 

I didn't mention that we actually stayed pre-cruise at the Residence Inn right on the same island as the cruise pier. We did a pre-embarkation walk to scope out where how to get there and there's this great waterfront pathway from the hotel ( amazing views of downtown Long Beach) past the other hotel Doubletree and then towards the Queen Mary. An easy 20 minutes walk and the hotel was just fine. It's also about a 20 minutes walk over a bridge (looks more daunting than it really is) right to the Long beach waterfront area with all the restaurants and ships. I would highly recommend staying there if you're departing a cruise from the dome. 

Edited April 28 by kwokpot

[EllieinNJ]

We stayed at the Queen Mary for convenience.  I did not like it.  Too stark with no amenities.  You couldn't control the AC from the room so it was freezing over night.  Easy walk though especially coming off the Carnival Radiance the day before.  

[LaRue1975]

16 hours ago, kwokpot said:

We are currently in Waikiki Beach for a three night pre-cruise stay before embarking on the Ovation of the Seas cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver. I had originally booked a 12:00 flight from LAX to Honolulu post Panorama Cruise but with advice from here on CC we changed our flight to 3:00 on another airline. We figured if we were to leave with the Diamonds at 8:30 we would be too early to check our bags AND too early to enter an airport lounge. That's why we chose a 9:50 debarkation which if things had gone to plan would have put us at LAX around 11:15 or so. In hindsight we should have departed with the Diamond debarkation. In any event we had just enough time for a quick lunch at the airport lounge despite it being two terminals away from our flight. 

I am not sure why the Panorama debarkation process is such a mess but it is. Your plan was perfect on most ships and I understand not wanting to get to the airport before you can check your luggage. That happened to us when we got off the Breeze. Debarkation was a breeze and we got to Hobby 4 1/2 hours before our flight and they wouldn’t take our luggage more than 4 hours before, that was not fun. The year before we were on the Vista which arrived late, a passenger had passed away and other passengers were led off in cuffs. It took forever to get off and we barely made our mid afternoon flight. Hawaii and the cruise sounds fabulous, have a wonderful time! 

[vwrestler171]

Long Beach seems to be horrible with the Panorama.  Not sure if the Firenze will be any better.  

[kwokpot]

9 minutes ago, vwrestler171 said:

Long Beach seems to be horrible with the Panorama.  Not sure if the Firenze will be any better.  

Maybe the additional passengers vs smaller ships causes more bottlenecks? 

[jimbo5544]

We did the Panorama a year ago, but do not remember any bottlenecks in debarking, we are Diamond but met others who were not and def off by 9.  Nice review.

[jimbo5544]

21 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Debarkation chaos is due to the cruise director so your feelings were correct.

How is it that you know that?

[LaRue1975]

20 hours ago, californiatripman said:

I’ll disagree with going off earlier.  We were supposed to go to Horizon restaurant for diamond disembarkation at 9:30.  They were taking everyone through there for disembarkation and it was a nightmare.  Could not get through the masses to get to our meeting area and no one understood we weren’t getting off right at that time just trying to get to our meeting area.  Much anger at us.  We ended up just waiting until the end and was much easier.  Unless you have to get off early I wouldn’t.  After 55 Carnival cruises was the most chaotic disembarkation I’ve bee through by far.  Who ever came up with this new disembarkation idea should be demoted yesterday.

You are correct, priority debarkation for passengers that checked their luggage is terrible. When we check our luggage we get off earlier than the meeting time but have to wind our way through with the masses. This was before the new digital system. The last time we carried off our luggage and that priority debarkation was fantastic, we’ll do it that way from now on. Next time we will get to the Liquid Lounge before 8, the meeting time is 8:30. We’re usually on the upper decks so need to get our luggage down the elevators before they get swamped. The lounge is a comfortable place to wait and you exit down by the stage directly out to the deck and the gang way is a very short walk away. Once we were out on the deck we kept moving all the way to our car.